1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of self-propellable, motor-driven, mobile toys and, more particularly, to an on-board control arrangement for and method of controlling the movement of such toys toward and away from obstacles in the advancement path of the toy.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been proposed in the art of mobile toys to use an external remote-control unit to transmit radio signals, either through the air or by wire, to the toy to control the various movements thereof over a travel surface to be traversed, e.g. a floor, the ground, a tabletop, etc. A user manipulating the remote-control unit can cause the toy to go forward, back up, steer right, steer left, stop, etc. Instead of transmitting radio signals, the art has also proposed controlling the movement of a mobile toy by utilizing an external light source, e.g. a flashlight or similar device, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,921,408; 2,922,929; 3,406,481 and 4,086,724; or an external sound source transmitted, e.g. by an audio speaker, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,892,290.
In addition, the art also has proposed mobile toys whose movements over the travel surface are controlled without the manipulation of exterior remote-control units. Thus, so-called "tracking" vehicle toys are provided with on-board light transmitters, e.g. a light bulb, and on-board light receivers, e.g. a photosensor, both of which face downwardly toward the travel surface on which a predetermined fixed path or track defined by light and dark areas is provided. Thus, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,130,803 and 2,074,251, the light transmitter emits a light beam toward the track, and the photosensor detects the variable intensity of light reflected from the light and dark track areas. This information is processed to steer the vehicle along the fixed track.
Still another proposal in the prior art of mobile toys relates to so-called "bump and go" toys of the type having a steering plate pivotably mounted on the underside of the toy. A steering wheel is mounted on the plate. In use, when the bump and go toy advances forwardly and collides with an obstacle in its path, the steering plate is turned somewhat, depending, at least in part, on the force of the collision and the speed of the toy, thereby causing the steering wheel carried by the steering plate to be displaced and oriented in a different direction. Hence, the initially forwardly advancing bump and go toy will now proceed in a different direction due to the different orientation of the steering wheel.
Although generally satisfactory for their intended purposes, the various mobile toys of the prior art possess certain drawbacks. For example, the bump and go toys, due to their constant bumping into obstacles, are prone to become damaged and, in time, to become disabled. The tracking toys are limited in their entertainment value because they can only follow a fixed track and cannot range freely over the travel surface. As for the radio-controlled, light-controlled or sound-controlled toys, they all require the user's active participation and skill to manipulate the various controls on the exterior remote-control unit in order to avoid obstacles which, when collided into, could otherwise cause damage to the remote-controlled toy.